USB device class drivers included in Windows

This topic is for programmers. If you are a customer experiencing USB problems, see Troubleshoot common USB problems

This topic lists the Microsoft-provided drivers for the supported USB device classes.

• Microsoft-provided drivers for USB-IF approved device classes.
• For composite devices, use USB Generic Parent Driver (Usbccgp.sys) that creates physical device objects (PDOs) for each function.
• For non-composite devices or a function of a composite device, use WinUSB (Winusb.sys).

If you are installing USB drivers: You do not need to download USB device class drivers. They are installed automatically. These drivers and their installation files are included in Windows. They are available in the \Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository folder. The drivers are updated through Windows Update.

If you are writing a custom driver: Before writing a driver for your USB device, determine whether a Microsoft-provided driver meets the device requirements. If a Microsoft-provided driver is not available for the USB device class to which your device belongs, then consider using generic drivers, Winusb.sys or Usbccgp.sys. Write a driver only when necessary. More guidelines are included in Choosing a driver model for developing a USB client driver.

USB Device classes

USB Device classes are categories of devices with similar characteristics and that perform common functions. Those classes and their specifications are defined by the USB-IF. Each device class is identified by USB-IF approved class, subclass, and protocol codes, all of which are provided by the IHV in device descriptors in the firmware. Microsoft provides in-box drivers for several of those device classes, called USB device class drivers. If a device that belongs to a supported device class is connected to a system, Windows automatically loads the class driver, and the device functions with no additional driver required.

Hardware vendors should not write drivers for the supported device classes. Windows class drivers might not support all of the features that are described in a class specification. If some of the device’s capabilities are not implemented by the class driver, vendors should provide supplementary drivers that work in conjunction with the class driver to support the entire range of functionality provided by the device.

For general information about USB-IF approved device classes see the USB Common Class Specification

The current list of USB class specifications and class codes is documented in the USB-IF Defined Class Code List.

Device setup classes

Windows categorizes devices by device setup classes, which indicate the functionality of the device.

Microsoft defines setup classes for most devices. IHVs and OEMs can define new device setup classes, but only if none of the existing classes apply. For more information, see System-Defined Device Setup Classes.

Two important device setup classes for USB devices are as follows:

USBDevice <88bae032-5a81-49f0-bc3d-a4ff138216d6>: IHVs must use this class for custom devices that do not belong to another class. This class is not used for USB host controllers and hubs.

USB <36fc9e60-c465-11cf-8056-444553540000>: IHVs must not use this class for their custom devices. This is reserved for USB host controllers and USB hubs.

The device setup classes are different from USB device classes discussed earlier. For example, an audio device has a USB device class code of 01h in its descriptor. When connected to a system, Windows loads the Microsoft-provided class driver, Usbaudio.sys. In Device Manager, the device is shown under is Sound, video and game controllers, which indicates that the device setup class is Media.

Microsoft-provided USB device class drivers

USB-IF class code	Device setup class	Microsoft-provided driver and INF	Windows support	Description
Audio (01h)	Media	Usbaudio.sys

WindowsВ 10 for desktop editions (Home, Pro, Enterprise, and Education) WindowsВ 10 Mobile WindowsВ 8.1 WindowsВ 8 WindowsВ 7 Windows ServerВ 2008 WindowsВ Vista Microsoft provides support for the USB audio device class by means of the Usbaudio.sys driver. For more information, see «USBAudio Class System Driver» in Kernel-Mode WDM Audio Components. For more information about Windows audio support, see the Audio Device Technologies for Windows website. Communications and CDC Control (02h) Ports

Usbser.sys Usbser.inf WindowsВ 10 for desktop editions WindowsВ 10 Mobile In WindowsВ 10, a new INF, Usbser.inf, has been added that loads Usbser.sys automatically as the function driver.

Note Supports Subclass 02h (ACM) Usbser.sys Custom INF that references mdmcpq.inf WindowsВ 10 for desktop editions WindowsВ 8.1 WindowsВ 8 WindowsВ 7 Windows ServerВ 2008 WindowsВ Vista In WindowsВ 8.1 and earlier versions, Usbser.sys is not automatically loaded. To load the driver, you need to write an INF that references the modem INF (mdmcpq.inf) and includes \[Install\] and \[Needs\] sections.

Starting with Windows Vista, you can enable CDC and Wireless Mobile CDC (WMCDC) support by setting a registry value, as described in Support for the Wireless Mobile Communication Device Class.

When CDC support is enabled, the USB Common Class Generic Parent Driver enumerates interface collections that correspond to CDC and WMCDC Control Models, and assigns physical device objects (PDO) to these collections. Net <4d36e972-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318>Note Supports Subclass 0Dh (NCM) UsbNcm.sys UsbNcm.inf Windows Insider Preview Microsoft provides the UsbNcm.sys driver to operate devices that comply with Usb NCM. The source code for this driver is available at NCM-Driver-for-Windows. Net <4d36e972-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318>Note Supports Subclass 0Eh (MBIM) wmbclass.sys Netwmbclass.inf WindowsВ 10 for desktop editions WindowsВ 8.1 WindowsВ 8 Starting in WindowsВ 8, Microsoft provides the wmbclass.sys driver, for mobile broadband devices. See, MB Interface Model. HID (Human Interface Device) (03h) HIDClass

Hidclass.sys Hidusb.sys Input.inf WindowsВ 10 for desktop editions WindowsВ 10 Mobile WindowsВ 8.1 WindowsВ 8 WindowsВ 7 Windows ServerВ 2008 WindowsВ Vista Microsoft provides the HID class driver (Hidclass.sys) and the miniclass driver (Hidusb.sys) to operate devices that comply with the USB HID Standard. For more information, see HID Architecture and Minidrivers and the HID class driver. For further information about Windows support for input hardware, see the Input and HID — Architecture and Driver Support website. Physical (05h) — — — Recommended driver: WinUSB (Winusb.sys) Image (06h) Image Usbscan.sys Sti.inf WindowsВ 10 for desktop editions WindowsВ 8.1 WindowsВ 8 WindowsВ 7 Windows ServerВ 2008 WindowsВ Vista Microsoft provides the Usbscan.sys driver that manages USB digital cameras and scanners for WindowsВ XP and later operating systems. This driver implements the USB component of the Windows Imaging Architecture (WIA). For more information about WIA, see Windows Image Acquisition Drivers and the Windows Imaging Component website. For a description of the role that Usbscan.sys plays in the WIA, see WIA Core Components. Printer (07h) USB

NoteВ В Usbprint.sys enumerates printer devices under the device set up class: Printer

<4d36e979-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318>. Usbprint.sys Usbprint.inf WindowsВ 10 for desktop editions WindowsВ 8.1 WindowsВ 8 WindowsВ 7 Windows ServerВ 2008 WindowsВ Vista Microsoft provides the Usbprint.sys class driver that manages USB printers. For information about implementation of the printer class in Windows, see the Printing — Architecture and Driver Support website. Mass Storage (08h) USB Usbstor.sys WindowsВ 10 for desktop editions WindowsВ 10 Mobile WindowsВ 8.1 WindowsВ 8 WindowsВ 7 Windows ServerВ 2008 WindowsВ Vista Microsoft provides the Usbstor.sys port driver to manage USB mass storage devices with Microsoft’s native storage class drivers. For an example device stack that is managed by this driver, see Device Object Example for a USB Mass Storage Device. For information about Windows storage support, see the Storage Technologies website. SCSIAdapter

SubClass (06) and Protocol (62) Uaspstor.sys Uaspstor.inf WindowsВ 10 for desktop editions WindowsВ 10 Mobile WindowsВ 8.1 WindowsВ 8 Uaspstor.sys is the class driver for SuperSpeed USB devices that support bulk stream endpoints. For more information see:

• Loading a UASP Storage Driver as a Class Driver on xHCI
• USB Attached SCSI (UAS) Best Practices for Windows 8

Hub (09h) USB Usbhub.sys Usb.inf WindowsВ 10 for desktop editions WindowsВ 10 Mobile WindowsВ 8.1 WindowsВ 8 WindowsВ 7 Windows ServerВ 2008 WindowsВ Vista Microsoft provides the Usbhub.sys driver for managing USB hubs. For more information about the relationship between the hub class driver and the USB stack, see USB host-side drivers in Windows. Usbhub3.sys Usbhub3.inf WindowsВ 10 for desktop editions WindowsВ 8.1 WindowsВ 8 Microsoft provides the Usbhub3.sys driver for managing SuperSpeed (USB 3.0) USB hubs.

The driver is loaded when a SuperSpeed hub is attached to an xHCI controller. See USB host-side drivers in Windows. CDC-Data (0Ah) — — — Recommended driver: WinUSB (Winusb.sys) Smart Card (0Bh) SmartCardReader

Usbccid.sys (Obsolete) WindowsВ 10 for desktop editions WindowsВ 7 Windows ServerВ 2008 WindowsВ Vista Microsoft provides the Usbccid.sys mini-class driver to manage USB smart card readers. For more information about smart card drivers in Windows, see Smart Card Design Guide.

Note that for Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000, special instructions are required for loading this driver because it might have been released later than the operating system.

Note Usbccid.sys driver has been replaced by UMDF driver, WUDFUsbccidDriver.dll. WUDFUsbccidDriver.dll WUDFUsbccidDriver.inf WindowsВ 8.1 WindowsВ 8 WUDFUsbccidDriver.dll is a user-mode driver for USB CCID Smart Card Reader devices. Content Security (0Dh) — — — Recommended driver: USB Generic Parent Driver (Usbccgp.sys). Some content security functionality is implemented in Usbccgp.sys. See Content Security Features in Usbccgp.sys. Video (0Eh) Image

Usbvideo.sys

Usbvideo.inf WindowsВ 10 for desktop editions

WindowsВ Vista Microsoft provides USB video class support by means of the Usbvideo.sys driver. For more information, see «USB Video Class Driver» under AVStream Minidrivers.

Note that for Windows XP, special instructions are required for loading this driver because it might have been released later than the operating system. Personal Healthcare (0Fh) — — — Recommended driver: WinUSB (Winusb.sys) Audio/Video Devices (10h) — — — — Diagnostic Device (DCh) — — — Recommended driver: WinUSB (Winusb.sys) Wireless Controller (E0h)

Note В В Supports Subclass 01h and Protocol 01h Bluetooth

Bthusb.sys

Bth.inf WindowsВ 10 for desktop editions WindowsВ 10 Mobile WindowsВ 8.1 WindowsВ 8 WindowsВ 7 WindowsВ Vista Microsoft provides the Bthusb.sys miniport driver to manage USB Bluetooth radios. For more information, see Bluetooth Design Guide. Miscellaneous (EFh) Net

NoteВ В Supports SubClass 04h and Protocol 01h Rndismp.sys Rndismp.inf WindowsВ 10 for desktop editions WindowsВ 8.1 WindowsВ 8 WindowsВ 7 WindowsВ Vista

Note Microsoft recommends that hardware vendors build USB NCM compatible devices instead. USB NCM is a public USB-IF protocol that offers better throughput performance.

Overview of Microsoft-provided USB drivers

This topics in this section describe the class drivers, generic client driver, and the parent composite driver that are provided by Microsoft.

Microsoft-provided USB drivers for controllers and hubs

Microsoft provides these set of drivers:

• For USB host controllers and hubs. For more information, see USB host-side drivers in Windows. You can develop a custom host controller driver that communicates with the USB host controller extension (UCX) driver. For more information, see Developing Windows drivers for USB host controllers.
• For handling common function logic for USB devices. For more information, see USB device-side drivers in Windows.
• For supporting Type-C connectors. For more information, see USB connector manager class extension (UcmCx).

Other Microsoft-provided USB drivers

Microsoft supports USB biometric devices (fingerprint readers) by providing the Windows Biometric Framework. See the Windows Biometric Framework.

Windows Server 2008

Windows Server 2003

Starting in Windows 7, Microsoft has replaced the kernel mode component of the Windows Vista USB driver stack (Wpdusb.sys) for Windows Portable Devices (WPD) with the generic Winusb.sys.

Microsoft provides the Wpdusb.sys driver to manage portable devices that support the Media Transfer Protocol. See WPD Design Guide.

Windows XP with Service Pack 2 (SP2)

Device setup class	Microsoft-provided driver and INF	Windows support	Description
USB	Usbccgp.sys is a parent driver for composite devices that supports multiple functions. For more information, see USB Generic Parent Driver (Usbccgp.sys).
Biometric
Media Transfer Protocol Devices	Wpdusb.sys (Obsolete)	Winusb.sys can be used as the USB device’s function driver instead of implementing a driver. See WinUSB.

Microsoft-provided USB device class drivers

Microsoft provides drivers for several USB device classes approved by USB-IF. These drivers and their installation files are included in Windows. They are available in the \Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository folder.